Central Saint Giles

Central Saint Giles is a mixed-use development in central London. Built at a cost of £450 million and completed in May 2010, it was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and is his first work in the UK. The development consists of two buildings of up to 15 storeys in height, arranged around a public courtyard lined with shops and restaurants. It is chiefly notable for its façades, covered with 134,000 glazed tiles in vivid shades of green, orange, lime and yellow. It has attracted a number of high-profile tenants including NBCUniversal, MindShare and Google.Location and backgroundThe development is located in the district of St Giles, a short distance to the east of the east end of Oxford Street. The area was once notorious for being one of the worst slums in London, known as the Rookery – a maze of ramshackle houses, alleys and courtyards inhabited by thousands of destitute people. It was famously depicted by William Hogarth in his 1751 print Gin Lane. Central Saint Giles stands on the site of St Giles Court, an office development originally erected in the 1950s for the Ministry of Supply and latterly used by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). It consisted of a series of linked brick blocks of six to eight storeys high, arranged in an S-shape around two inner courtyards to which there was no public access. The grim appearance of St Giles Court contributed to the area becoming a magnet for prostitutes and the homeless. The building was owned by Legal & General but was occupied by the MOD on a lease that was not due to expire until 2011. However, at the start of the 21st century the MOD began undertaking a process of reducing its London estate and discontinued the use of several buildings in the capital, including St Giles Court. It vacated the building in April 2005.